1980s Polio disease scare in BC Lower Mainland

During the 1980s I was a Public Health Nurse in the BC Interior. We were peripherally involved in responding to public concerns about a case of polio disease imported from an unimmunized religious community in Western Europe into a similar community in the BC Lower Mainland. My recall is now fuzzy about the number of polio cases, but I do recall the fear of people calling our Health Unit (HU). 

Then in the 1990s, a colleague who was a Public Health Nurse in one of the BC Lower Mainland communities during the polio scare, shared how their HU received panic-stricken calls about exposure to polio virus from people who were driving through the area, not stopping.  

Fortunately, we can take vaccine protection for granted, for the most part. This is not the case in many countries. UNICEF, along with other organizations and some private enterprise, work tirelessly to deliver vaccine protection to vulnerable populations! We can do our small part on I BOOST IMMUNITY!